10,000 sign petition to stop Fr James Martin speaking at World Meeting of Families

Over 10,000 people have signed a petition to withdraw an invitation to Fr James Martin from the World Meeting Of Families.

The petition, started by the Irish branch of Tradition, Family, Property, opposes Fr Martin’s attendance on the grounds that he “supports trangenderism for children,” and “favours homosexuals kissing during the mass.”

Included with the petition is a letter, sent to Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, criticising Fr Martin’s support for the pro-LGBT New Ways Ministry organisation.

In particular, the letter denounces Fr Martin for having “publicly accepted an award from this group, delivered a talk at their event and subsequently developed this talk into a book.

“Fr Martin is also in disagreement with the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s reference to homosexual inclination as ‘gravely disordered’.

“In this way, he would prevent those with same-sex inclination from arriving at a true understanding of their condition in the light of church teaching and God’s mercy. This is a great disservice to those whom he purports to help.

“We believe that sowing error and confusion should have no place at the World Meeting of Families. For this reason, we strongly request you to disinvite Fr James Martin from speaking at so important an event.”

For his part, Fr Martin insists that he “isn’t bothered” by the “ocean of hate and threats,” which he has received.

“What kind of Jesuit would I be if I let hatred stop me from loving?” he said. “Besides that, homophobia represents a very small percentage of Catholics, and I have the support of my Jesuit superiors, several cardinals, archbishops and bishops, and, also, the majority of the faithful, many of whom have LGBT people in their families.”

“These protesters are not only on the wrong side of history, they’re on the wrong side of the Gospel,” he added.

The organisers of the World Meeting Of Families event have said there will be no change to the current line-up.